By Amir Zia
Monthly Newsline
August 2018
“The first lesson for a man who wants to achieve
something, is that there are no shortcuts in life,” Khan said in an interview
in July 2017. “You make goals in life and then you pursue them. Only those
succeed who do not give up. They stumble, but then they rise again and assess
why they fell…”
After a 22-year long gruelling journey in the
political wilderness, Pakistan’s most internationally recognised sports
celebrity and ladies’ man-turned-philanthropist-turned-politico, has managed to
don this dream cap too.
The vagaries of Pakistani politics being what they
are, there are no certainties or absolute truths.
After decades of rule by the two families that have
virtually institutionalised dynastic politics, each laden with the baggage of
alleged corruption, nepotism and even murder, Pakistan was ringing with a call
for change. Imran Khan and his party offered just that: a radically different
alternative. The PTI carved out a constituency by cutting a swathe across
different political and ideological divides. It captured the imagination of the
centre, the moderate and the conservative right, apolitical liberals, the
westernised elite, the young and the old. People from all classes and ethnic
groups, hailing from all the four provinces, harkened to the PTI call, making
it the first political party after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s PPP to lay down roots
across Pakistan.
But hell apparently hath no fury like political
demagogues scorned. And so all the traditional political forces — from the
far-right to the self-professed political moderates, from sworn enemies to
friends of convenience, and every political force in-between that has been
spurned in the 2018 election — have come together to form a new grand alliance
to counter the PTI.
Having been formally nominated as Prime Minister-designate
by the PTI and with the additional votes needed by the induction of
independents and an uneasy alliance with the MQM, Khan is, however, now set to
take his seat at the helm and get down to the business of governance in
earnest.
The question on everyone’s minds is, can he deliver?
The near miracle he has vowed to bring about, is a tall order by any standard.
But two decades later, Khan is no longer the political novice he once was.
Years of setbacks in politics have taught him pragmatism, as opposed to the
puritanical and black-and-white approach he began with. This was evident when
he embraced the ‘electables’ with open arms and shook hands with those whom he
had once rejected.
The Imran Khan of 2018 appears in no mood to repeat
the mistakes of the 2013 elections. To begin with, he has clearly realised that
the PTI could not have translated its popularity into electoral victory with
inexperienced candidates. Hence, the induction of some tried and tested
politicians who might have been undesirable in the past. Yet, against the
advice of conventional politicians, he has remained uncompromising in his
stance against the country’s two oldest mainstream parties — the PML-N and the
PPP. For him, Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari are two sides of the same coin.
This has resulted in the convergence of the PML-N’s and the PPP’s interests
against the PTI, as is evident in their cooperation in the joint opposition.
Khan has made conciliatory statements in respect of
neighbouring countries, even while emphasising that Pakistan seeks equality in
its relationship with its peers. He has also unequivocally declared that he
will seek to rid the country of its begging bowl vis-a-vis international
financial institutions.
“He ran a hectic and punishing election campaign,”
said Senator Faisal Javed Khan, who joined the party in 1996 at the age of 15
and who has been by Imran’s side in most rallies, including the recent election
campaign. “During the last 14 days of the campaign, Imran addressed 60 public
meetings… at times, seven public meetings in a day, criss-crossing from one
province to another. His younger followers were exhausted, but Imran went on
non-stop, skipping meals, preparing speeches and offering prayers during
helicopter rides or while on the road — often drenched in sweat from
head-to-toe during the oppressive July heat,” added Faisal. “He always says
that the match is not over till the last ball. And so it was.”
But with only a slim majority in the National
Assembly, making good on election pledges and victory vows, will be a Herculean
task. The precarious position of the country’s economy might force the new
government to, once again, turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a
bailout, or to friendly countries for injections of funds needed to avoid the
looming balance of payment crisis. This means tough austerity measures, higher
inflation and unpopular reforms that will hit the common man the most, as
little money will be available for development and the social sector.
These challenges fail to deter Khan’s supporters, who
believe that their leader can deliver come rain or sunshine. “People told him
that he could never play Test cricket or become a fast bowler, but he did,”
said Faisal. “He and his team were ruled out of the World Cup, but he won it…
all experts said that a cancer hospital that aims to treat poor patients
free-of-cost, could never be built or sustained, but he did both.” He contends
that now, under Khan’s Prime Ministership, “we will make the new Pakistan he
has promised, that will treat rich and poor alike, and provide justice to all.”
Hunaid Lakhani, founder of Iqra University and its
former chancellor, who came all the way from the United States to contribute to
Imran Khan’s electoral campaign in Karachi, also claims he has no doubt about
the success of his leader as premier.
“Leadership matters,” he said. “Imran inspires
people. They trust him with money — including the Pakistani diaspora scattered
all over the world. He will make possible what appears impossible.”
And like Lakhani, many expatriate Pakistanis dashed
to Pakistan to cast their vote and participate in the election campaign. They
aimed to realise the dream of Khan’s ‘Naya Pakistan,’ which may appear elusive
and ambiguous to his critics, but is viewed by supporters as representative of
diversity and an openness to personal intepretation.
The slogan has struck a chord with hundreds of
thousands of Pakistanis —angry and frustrated with decades of corruption – the
loot, plunder and misrule of past governments. Khan’s uncompromising pledge to
change all of that has captured their imagination.
Clearly, even after decades, Imran’s personality cult
and fan club remain intact. In many constituencies, he asked voters to ignore
the candidates and just stamp the symbol of the bat. “I take their (the PTI
candidates) full responsibility,” he repeated at various meetings.
The 2018 election campaign was different from
previous ones. Despite his fan following, larger-than-life image and personal
charisma, he failed to politically capitalise on any of these assets in
previous campaigns. The PTI was routed in its maiden election appearance in
1997 — the party was unable to win even a single seat. In 2002, Imran managed
to secure a single seat in the National Assembly. In 2008, he boycotted the
general elections and since then, was widely dubbed a ‘failed politician’ akin
to Asghar Khan.
The first surge in the PTI’s fortunes came in the
2013 elections, in which it emerged as the third-largest party in the National
Assembly and the second-largest in terms of securing the popular vote. Yet, the
dream of Imran becoming prime minister continued to remain elusive. He was seen
as a political novice singlehandedly trying to bring down the entrenched
Goliaths of Pakistani politics.
While his newly politicised fans followed him,
Imran’s political posturing and positioning made him unpopular among liberals
and leftists. The sobriquet ‘Taliban Khan’ was conferred on him because of his
conciliatory statements towards the Taliban and insistence on dialogue rather
than war with the movement. Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the JUI F dubbed him a
‘stooge of the West’ and a ‘Jewish agent’ – presumably on account of his
marriage to Jemima Goldsmith, who was of a Jewish heritage, never mind that she
had converted to Islam.
Khan’s stance on the blasphemy laws, women and the
feminist movement, earned him the wrath of many. While some believed that his
conservative views were aimed at winning the electoral support of the
conservative and orthodox sections of society, others alleged that he had
actually become increasingly orthodox in matters of faith.
Although many of Imran’s rightwing, liberal and
left-wing critics enjoy little grassroots following, their clout on the
traditional and social media amplifies their voices. These voices, coupled with
the influence and propaganda of mainstream political rivals, made a lethal
combination as Pakistan’s largest media groups turned their guns on Khan and
his team. There were no-holds-barred attacks — from the targeting of his
personal life, to questions surrounding his political positions.
The 126-day long Islamabad dharna of
2014, against the alleged rigging of the 2013 polls and Nawaz Sharif’s misrule,
helped transform the PTI into a party with popular appeal and helped expand its
base from the urban middle class and the elite, to rural areas. It
simultaneously engendered another barrage of allegations against Khan.
Political rivals of all hues and shades now called him an ‘army puppet,’ used
to weaken democracy in the country. ‘Ladla’
(darling of the establihsment), was another epithet coined for him.
These allegations continue to follow Khan,
post-elections. His faithful followers trash them, while his rivals and critics
reiterate them on every platform – including the media and the courts of law.
Imran’s supporters, however, allege that he is the
only national leader who has not benefited from any military ruler. While both
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif started their political careers under the
wings of military dictators, Khan carries no such stigma, they claim.
And so there he is, on the eve of assuming office as
Pakistan’s 19th Prime Minister, having graphically demonstrated the
fruits of tenacity.
“The first lesson for a man who wants to achieve
something, is that there are no shortcuts in life,” Khan said in an interview
in July 2017. “You make goals in life and then you pursue them. Only those
succeed who do not give up. They stumble, but then they rise again and assess
why they fell. They analyse their shortcomings. People do take potshots at such
individuals — I have been ridiculed my whole life — but a person who is his own
best critic succeeds eventually. This has been my life, without any shortcuts.
I dreamed big and pursued my dreams without fear and with no intention of
giving up.”
ENDs
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